Evaluation of the Two Year Key Stage 3 Project - Communities and ...

The key advantage is opening up Key Stage 4. But there are also advantages at Key Stage3.There’s certainly no hanging around any more. [Mathematics teacher]The main advantage is that it leads to the possibility of higher results in Key Stage 4. We willuse Year 9 to produce mock coursework. [Teacher]It is interesting to note that while condensing the curriculum, a quick start and the absence of repetitionwere invariably presented as strengths at Key Stage 3, the reverse was the case in relation to Key Stage4. That is, spending three years rather than two on GCSE was always presented as a strength, as wereopportunities to retake examinations.In addition, several teachers acknowledged the benefits of bringing forward the start of GCSE and otherKey Stage 4 courses as they felt that these motivated pupils. One teacher acknowledged that externaltests in themselves could raise standards:A [former Secretary of State for Education and Skills] Charles Clarke quote was discussedearly on in the Project. He’d said, ‘exams raise standards’ which sparked a debate because wewere angry and said ‘it’s not exams that raise standards, it’s teachers that raise standards’ butnow I think up to a point it’s true. [English teacher]Another teacher pointed to the motivating effects of a two year Key Stage 3 in years 7 and 8 followedby an early start to GCSE courses:It has a huge motivating effect for boys. They feel they are doing real things as GCSE is a realcurrency that they deal in… The problem, if it occurs, is the subject matter in English – it dealswith grown up themes. This more often occurs with the boys. [English teacher]However this quotation also draws attention one of the central dilemmas of the policy - should thebenefits of enhanced motivation be traded off against any costs arising from a lack of maturity?Concerns arising from a lack of maturity were acknowledged in several schools. In one school, whichhad followed an accelerated model for several years, those concerns had been allayed:Generally, there is an issue of confidence in the lead up to Year 8. Pupils do feel pressurised.But having done that they progress well to GCSEs. In Years 9 and 10 there is a focus onmotivation. By Year 11 pupils have from one to five GCSEs. There is a big change in their selfconfidence…Itcertainly benefits high attainers. But it equally benefits all students who are thenable to spend three years on GCSEs which is of most value to them. [Senior manager]A colleague had drawn similar conclusions about the value of a two year programme.I was prepared to give it a go but I was also a bit cynical as I was worried that it was movingexam anxiety from Year 9 to Year 8 when pupils were less mature…I am much morecomfortable with it now. I think it was the right thing to do for these pupils… The results areexcellent. The boys’ results [in external tests] are phenomenal. [English teacher]This teacher went on to acknowledge, as did teachers at other schools, that if pupils did not do well intests for which they had been entered early then this could act as a demotivator.By way of contrast to the quotations above, a teacher at a school with previous experience of early entryto GCSEs had drawn conflicting conclusions. This teacher was concerned that pupils, and also parents,38